Trap-door for railway-car platforms.



E. F. GHAFFEE. TRAP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CAR PLATFORMS,

APPLlCATlON FILED MAR. 13, 1915.

Patented May 25, 1915.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS CO. r .JTO-LITHQ. WASHING TON, B4 c.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. F. CHAFFEE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, I915.

Patented May 25, 1915.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS TRAP DOOR F OR RAILWAY CAR PLATFORMS.

A N o 0.0 so mN 1 1 1 1 L a MEL T m 1 GT0 rolo. F v/ Iv o W Qm m TIPN\\\\ In mw fl \Q THE NORRIS PETER CO" F'IIOTUJ-ITFIU. WASHINGDN, Dv C.

WTTNESSES:

/ I flu E. F. CHAFFEE. TRAP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CAR PLATFORMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1915.

Patented May 25, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR wwmssas;

LA/MC ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS Co., F'HDTO-LITHQ. wAsHlNGmN. D. c.

E. F. CHAFFEE.

TRAP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CAR PLATFORMS. APPLKCATION FILED MAR."18,19\5.

1 1%35 1 o Patented May 25, 1915,

4 SHEETS SHEET 4.

WiTNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LITHO.,WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

EDWARD F. CHAFFEE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOR TO THE 0. M. EDWARDSCOMPANY, INC., 015 SYRACUSE, NEW

YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TRAP-DOOR FOR RAILWAY-CAR PLATFORMS.

ma am.

Application filed March 18, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD F. GHAFFEE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of NewYork, have invented a certaln new and useful Trap-Door for Railway-CarPlatforms, of which the following is a speclfication.

This invention relates to trap doors for railway car platforms andparticularly to trap doors which are capable of being projectedlaterally beyond the sides of the cars to bridge the space between thecars and station platforms elevated into a position nearly flush withthe car platforms, and the invention has for its object means movablewith the trap door to bridge the space between the inner edge of thetrap door and the platform floor when the door is pro ected outwardly,and means connected to the former means to project the door outwardly.

Other objects will appear throughout the specification.

The invention consists in the combinations and constructions hereinafterset forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like characters designate corresponding parts in allthe views.

Figure 1 is a plan view, partly in section, of a trap door embodying myinvention a contiguous part of the car being shown in section, and theflooring of its platform being removed. Fig. 2 is a sectional view onthe plane of line A-A, Fig. 1 the door being shown as in its openposition. Fig. 1s a plan View similar to Fig. 1, the door being shown asprojected axially. Fig. 4 is a detail view looking to the left in Fig. 2with the door removed, showing particularly the slide located in thecavity at the top of the platform steps. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailview illustrating the ledge on the hinge bracket for supporting theadvance portion of the door when the door is projected axially.

1 designates the car platform.

2 is the trap door which is hinged at one side of the door opening andwhich is movable axially of its hinge to project its outer portion 3beyond the side face 4 of the car.

5 is means as a slide movable with the door Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented May 25, 1915.

Serial No. 15,189.

2 as it is moved axially, the slide being located at the inner edge ofthe door in position to form an extension of the trap door and bridgethe space between the trap door and the platform when the door isprojected axially, this slide telescoping with the plat form at the topof the riser 6 of the top step.

The door 2 is hinged to the platform in any well known manner, it beinghere shown as carried by parallel levers 7 pivoted at 8 at their innerends to bearings 9 mounted on a spring barrel 10 which is journaled atits ends in brackets 11 and 12 carried by the platform. The parallellevers 7 are connected at their outer ends to the underside of the doorby pins 13 extending through the slots 14 in the ends of the arms 7During axial shifting of the door, the levers move on their pivots inparallelism and guide the door in its sliding movement. A suitabletorque spring, not shown, is located within the barrel 10 and fixed atone end to one of the bearings 11. and 12, and at its other end to thebarrel to turn the same in the usual manner.

The front edge of the door, that is, the free edge,

normally rests on a ledge 15 formed on a strip 16 secured to the carstructure. The strip 16 extends nearly to the side face of the carbeyond which the trap door can be projected, and hence the door at itsfree edge is supported practically to said side face of the car. Therear portion of the door is supported by the hinge.

In order that the rear edge of the door near the hinge may be supportednear the side face 4 of the car when the door is projected axially, witha bearing face or ledge 17 upon which the advance portion of the edge ofthe door near the hinge rests when the door is pro jected outwardly asseen in Fig. 5. Hence the door is supported at both edges to nearly theside face of the car.

The slide 5 preferably moves into and out of a cavity 18 located in theplatform and rests on the ledge 15. The slide 5 and door are providedwith coupling means which automatically disconnect during the opening ofthe door and coact as the door approaches its closed position. As hereshown, the slide 5 is provided avith shoulders or butthe bracket 12 isprovided door may not tons 19 which engage or interlock withcomplemental sockets 20 at the inner edge of the door 2, these socketsopening through the lower face of the door or flooring thereof. Theslide 5 is preferably formed of sheet metal and rides on the edges ofangle iron braces 21 on the bottom of'the'cavity 18, and is formed witha downturned margin 22 at its front edge which extends in front of aflange 23 projecting upwardly from the riser 6 of the top step, andcloses the front end of the cavity 18.

The operating means for projecting the door outwardly and returning itto its normal position is connected to the slide 5 so that the motion istransmitted through the slide. Said means comprises a vertical rockshaft 24: on the platform 1 having a rock arm 25 at its lower end withinthe cavity 18 and a handle 26rat its upper end, the rock arm 25 beingconnected by a link 27 to the rear edge of the slide 5. The handle 26 ishere shown as foldable and as in its collapsed position in Fig. 2. Byoperating the rock shaft 24.- in one direction obviously the slide willbe moved outwardly pushing the door therewith and during the movement ofthe handle in the opposite direction, the slide will be pulled into thecavity 18 drawing the door to its normal position.

This trap door is, in many instances, used with vestibule doorsdesignated by the numeral 28 and in order that the vestibule be closedin case the porter or trainman neglects toreturn the trap door to itsnormal position, means is provided for preventing the closing of thevestibule door in order to remmd the porter or trainman to return thetrap door to its normal position. In this embodiment of my invention,said means comprises a stop 29 on the trap door near the free edgethereof, the stop being arranged in position so that it is normally outof the path of the opening and closing movement of the door 28 and movesinto said path when the door is projected axially as indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 1.

What-Iclaim is 1. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trapdoor movable laterally beyond the side of the car, a slide located atthe inner edge of the door to bridge the space between the platformfloor and the door when the door is projected outwardly from its normalposition, and means for moving the door and the slide, said means beingconnected to the slide, substantially as and for the purposedescribed. I

2. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trap door movablelaterally beyond the side of the car, an extension located at the inneredge of the door to bridge the space between the platform floor and thedoor when the door is projected outwardly from its normal position, andmeans wardly from its normal position, and operating means connected tothe slide to movethe door axially, substantially as and for the purposeset forth. Y

l. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trap door hingedtothe platform at one side of the door opening and slidable in adirection axially of its'hinge,

an extension located at the inner edge of the door to bridge the spacebetween the platform and the door when the door is moved axiallyoutwardly from its normalposition, and operating means connected to theextension to move the door axially, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

5. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trap door hinged tothe plat-. form at one side of the door opening and slidable in adirection axially of its hinge, a slide located at the inner edge of thedoor to bridge the space between the platform and the door when the dooris moved axially outwardly from its normal position, means coupling thedoor and the slide and acting to disconnect the opening of the door onits hinge, and operating means connected to the slide, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

6. The combination with a railway car platform having a cavity therein,of a'trap door shiftable outwardly beyond the side of the car, a slideassociated with the door 7. The combination with a railway car platformformed with arcavity, of a trap door hinged to the platform at one sideof the door opening, and slidable in a direction axially of its hinge, aslide movable into and out of the cavity, the door and slide havingmeans-movable out of and into interlocking engagement during the openingand closing of the door, and operating means for sliding the dooraxially and moving the slide there with, said means being connected tothe slide to operate the door through the slide, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

8. The combination with a railway car platform, ofa trap door hinged tothe platform at one side of the door opening and slidable axially of itshinge, aslide located at the inner edge of the door tovbridge the spacebetween the door from the slide during the platform and the door i whenthe door is shifted axially outwardly from its normal position, andoperating means connected to the slide to move the door axially, saidmeans comprising a rock arm connected to the slide, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

9. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trap door hinged tothe platform at one side of the door opening and slidable axially of itshinge to project a portion thereof beyond the side of the car, and abearing surface located near said side of the car and the axis of thehinge for supporting the door when the door is projected axially,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

10. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trap door hingedto the platform at one side of the door opening and slidable in adirection axially of its hinge to project a portion thereof beyond theside of the car, and a bracket supporting the hinge, the bracket beinglocated near said side of the car and formed with a ledge and the doorhaving a portion thereof extending to the rear side of the hinge, saidportion being movable into a position to bear on the ledge when the dooris projected axially, substantially as and for the purpose described.

11. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trap door hingedto the platform at one side of the door opening and slidable in adirection axially of its hinge to project a portion thereof beyond theside of the car, a bearing surface on which the free edge of the doorslides, said surface extending to said side of the car, and meanslocated near said side of the car and having a bearing surface arrangedto receive the opposite margin of the door when the door is projectedaxially, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

12. The combination with a railway car platform, of a trap door hingedto the platform at one side of the door opening and slidable in adirection axially of its hinge to project a portion thereof beyond theside of the car, and means located near said side of the car and nearthe axis of the hinge for supporting the side edge of the door nearestthe hinge when the door is projected axially, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

13. The combination with a railway car platform and a vestibule door, ofa trap door slidable outwardly, and means associated with the trap doorfor preventing the closing of the vestibule door when the trap door isin its outward position, substantially as and for the purpose described.

14. The combination with a railway car,

platform and a vestibule door, of a trap door slidable outwardly beyondthe side of the car, the trap door having a shoulder thereon normallyout of the path of the opening and closing movement of the vestibuledoor and movable into said path when the trap door is projectedoutwardly, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, andState of New York, this 28rd day of February, 1915.

EDWARD F. CHAFFEE.

lVitnesses S. DAVIS, J. GLAZIER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

